Page 37 of Cowboy

“I can see your wheels turning, baby. There’s no use trying to make sense of the actions of a madman.”

“I know you’re right,” she said, hugging him. “What do we do now? We obviously can’t go out today and do anything. Do we need to stay on-property?”

“I think until the storm blows over, we should. Matthew made sure that all of this property was elevated to avoid massive flooding, but it can still happen at the edges. We’re safe here, for now, but that doesn’t mean the wind can’t knock down trees and power.”

“What happens to security if we lose power?” frowned Autumn. Cowboy kissed her nose.

“No need to worry, babe. The security system runs on its own power grid. We won’t lose that for sure. While we have some time to think, though, I need to ask what you want to do about your grandmother’s ashes.”

“Well, Trigger has them, right?” she asked. Cowboy looked at her, shaking his head.

“Honey, I think he does. Or did. But we think Dimitri killed him as well. He was found shot a few days ago. There was so much going on. I didn’t want to burden you with more bad news. I’m sorry.” Autumn wanted to be angry with him, but the truth was, she wasn’t sure she could have heard that bad news a few days ago. It was too much all at once.

“I understand why you did it, Benjamin, but please don’t keep things from me in the future,” she said.

“I promise, babe. Did he have children? Anyone that would take care of his body?”

“Yes, he had a son that helped him at the ranch. Mack is probably fifty or fifty-five, but he was the one that caught our horses and had them penned. I’m sure he’s taken care of his father.”

“Why don’t you call him and see if they still have your grandmother. If they do, we’ll make arrangements to spread the ashes on the mountain like she wanted.” Stepping away from the table, she called Mack from the new phone that Sly had given her. Apparently, it had all kinds of bells and whistles on it. She didn’t care as long as she could take care of her grandmother.

“Hello,” said the deep voice.

“Mack? Mack, it’s Autumn,” she said.

“Autumn! Honey, we’ve been worried sick about you. Autumn, they killed Daddy. Shot him in the chest,” he said, sniffing.

“I heard. I’m so sorry, Mack. Is there anything I can do?”

“No. Nothin’ to be done. We still got your horses here.”

“I’m sorry about that. Can we leave them there a while longer? I’m not sure what I’m going to do about them.”

“Of course. You know we’ll give you a fair price if you want to sell them. I’m gonna be busy now without Daddy.”

“I’ll think about selling them, Mack. I’m not sure I have a place for them where I am. I was wondering, do you still have Grandma’s ashes?”

“You know I do, hun. I’ve got them on the mantle, next to Daddy. I figured maybe they’d want to be spread together. It seems the right thing to do,” he said quietly.

“I think that sounds perfect,” she said, wiping back tears. “I’ll let you know when I can get back there. The man that killed your father and Grandma is still out there, and he’s looking for me. I’m safe, but be careful, Mack. He could come back hoping to find information about me.”

“I will, hun. Stay safe.” She hung up the phone and turned to see all the families, all the children and grandchildren.

“Right. Safe.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

As with any time there was excessive rain for endless days, there were things that could be fixed indoors. Between Claudette, Mama Irene, Matthew, George, and Jake, the team was cleaning closets, fixing cabinet doors, scrubbing the floors in the café, tattoo shop, and bike shop, and making piles for the donation bin.

“You know, we have all these toys that the kids hardly use. Maybe we should think about doing a toy drive for the holidays. Gently used or new,” said Erin.

“I think that’s a great idea,” said Lauren. “I know that we try to give any educational toys to the school and daycare but think about how much we could collect at the tattoo shop, bike shop, and salon. Maybe give people a discount when they bring in a new toy.”

“Before my grandmother got me,” said Autumn, “we used to have to rely on charity bins at the local church. I hated going in there because I knew that my parents had money. They just spent it in the wrong ways. But I remember seeing how embarrassed the kids were. Do you think there’s a way we could do this anonymously and deliver the toys?”

“Now that’s a great idea,” smiled Mary. “Maybe we start putting out feelers with the church and other places to see who is in need. Maybe those that are food deprived, we could even provide a basket with all the things needed for a full holiday meal.”

“Now we’re talking!” said Kari. “Think of all the families in this area that just need a little helping hand during the holiday season. We already make sure the kids at the boys’ home are taken care of, but there are so many more.”

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